A few years ago, Stephen and Kat Davis sat on a small bench outside a coffee shop in Charleston. Stephen Davis kept hearing bells ring from up the block and asked his wife what the noise was coming from.

“Ding! Ding!” He heard it again and looked up from his coffee just in time to see a giddy bride and groom – still decked out in full wedding attire – come flying down the street in the backseat of a bright yellow pedicab. More pedicabs began to fly by the pair. Stephen Davis realized a parade of pedicabs was ruling the streets of Charleston around him.

He recalled seeing the bike cabs everywhere and wondering why Wilmington didn’t have any of the same simple transportation. So, after moving to Wilmington in the summer of 2014, the couple decided to purchase the necessary city permits to start their own pedicab company in downtown Wilmington. The result was Port City Bike Taxi.

A pedicab, also known as a rickshaw, is a vehicle similar to a three-wheeled bicycle, with a seat for passengers behind the driver. The pedicabs the Davises bought, and now own for the company, have small electric engines that last about 30 minutes a day. This helps for the occasional big hill, but it leaves Port City Bike Taxi drivers only their two legs as a means for powering the craft the majority of the time. 

To get the company rolling, the pair needed a few permits. The city required the company to obtain a taxicab permit (the same permit required to become an automobile taxi driver), a peddlers permit, vendors permit and $2 million worth of insurance to start up Port City Bike Taxi. 

The startup business has been growing ever since. The company currently has four employees and three cabs, and is the only pedicab company operating in the downtown district of Wilmington. Its delivery range is from Satellite Bar and Lounge on Greenfield Street to Palate on North Fourth Street, and from Water Street to 10th Street. 

It is not the first pedicab company to attempt operating in downtown. Several pedicab companies were previously unable to stay afloat. 

Stephen Davis said his company is different from previous pedicab companies and will survive the setting due to certain company characteristics. The owners’ goal is to grow and expand with the city, increasing the number of cabs and passengers to accommodate the steady growth of new projects downtown.

The big reason the company will grow in the downtown district, according to Stephen Davis, is that certain pedicab companies that previously attempted to operate downtown were unable to maintain their cabs due to the heavy ware and tear the uneven, cobblestone hills put on the three-wheeled vehicles. He has an answer for this. 

He worked in the service department at Harley-Davidson from 2012 to 2013. Anytime a spoke snaps, a wheel falls off or a part gets damaged on one of his three cabs, he is immediately on the scene to repair the cab.

Port City Bike Taxi’s business model is based partly on receiving a portion of each driver’s tips at the end of each night and partly from companies advertising on the rickshaws. The company doesn’t charge its customers rates; the drivers solely accept tips, Stephen Davis said. 

The company also recently started using an app called Clover Go, from Bank of America, so drivers can take credit card tips as well as cash while on the go. The Davises currently work as drivers for Port City Bike Taxi on a nightly basis as well.

With growth in mind, the company recently purchased three new pedicabs. Stephen Davis ordered them from China for roughly $3,500 each. With the new vehicles on their way, the couple plans to hire employees and expand the business this spring. 

The company currently operates its cabs out on the streets from evening time until about 2 a.m., Thursday through Sunday. As soon as spring and the new cabs arrive, Port City Bike Taxi will expand its hours and will be open all day Thursday-Sunday. Fridays and Saturdays tend to be the busiest nights for the pedicab company right now, due to the influx of college students at bars and events happening downtown at Cape Fear Community College’s Humanities and Fine Arts Center and the Brooklyn Arts District. 

When the Humanities and Fine Arts Center has a sold-out show or event, the pedicab drivers help escort people to their vehicles and offer a quick means of transportation for those who don’t want to hail a taxi or walk after the event has concluded.

As expansion happens for Port City Bike Taxi, Stephen Davis has made it clear that he wants to keep the company local. He is organically growing his customer base via face-to-face interactions and relationships with people downtown and talking to local businesses to get them to advertise on the back of his pedicabs. He also is looking to do contract work with local venues as soon as his additional cabs arrive and his company’s workforce grows larger.

Stephen Davis said he expects their business to grow as city amenities and attractions expand in years ahead. 

Wilmington’s downtown streets become busier each year as new apartments are built and new businesses spring up. 

“With the Brooklyn Arts District and the new marina coming up, we have a great opportunity to remain a monopoly if we can expand with the growth of the city,” Stephen Davis said. “That would be our dream, for us to keep expanding as the city grows and be the only pedicab company in town.”

The Davises brought rickshaws back to Wilmington in the summer of 2014. And nowadays, as Stephen Davis sits on a bench along the side of Front Street, eating his ice cream or drinking his coffee and talking to his wife, he can hear a distinct sound coming from up the street. He hears his own pedicabs and the sound he took from Charleston. “Ding! Ding!”